Coward
by emo-black-cat
Summary: A short ShikaTema fanfic... nothing much, really. Shirtless Shikamaru, if that helps attract anyone to reading this!


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If you see this same fanfic on a different website, IT IS STILL MINE! It is the same person (ME) just on a different website. PLEASE DO NOT ACCUSE ME OF PLAIGIRISM!! I worte both versions!

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Shikamaru awoke with a start. The last few words of his dream faded as he realized that it was a nightmare.

Coward. Crybaby. You're nothing but a fool!

He stumbled out of bed and stared out the window; out the window into the green fresh morning air of Konoha. The birds chirping as they flew gracefully through the air. The slight spring breeze rustled through the trees almost soundlessly.

But Shikamaru didn't see it. He saw nothing. Emptiness. Konoha's colorful spring was gray to him. Everything was dreary and miserable.

"Forget it," he said, surprising himself by the volume of his voice. He choked on a few tears. "Never look back. Regret is dimwittedness."

Dimwitted.

It rang in his ears like a bell. That was it, wasn't it? That was the day he realized it, right? That day.

"By the way, when did you become so dimwitted?"

He fell to the floor.

Why?

Why does she hate me?

Blonde hair flew backwards as she jolted upright, dragging her head up from the pillow she had slept on. Her eyes flew open.

No. Not again.

She gingerly allowed one of her hands to make its way up to her cheek. Wet. Her fingers trailed and caught one of the tears tumbling down from her eye. She held it there on her face for a minute, and then stared at it.

No!

She flung the drop through the air and it shattered the silence as it dropped onto the floor.

She found herself panting. She angrily wiped her eyes and got out of bed, determined.

Get over it. And get out of bed, you lazy-bum!

Lazy.

She shook her head of thoughts of the lazy boy that haunted her dreams.

Why?

Why do I love him?

Shikamaru stumbled to the Hokage's mansion, trying to get his act together. Then it hit him.

Today! She's coming today!

His cloud suddenly had a silver lining, and he didn't know why. He found himself grinning and running towards the Hokage's building. His mind was set on one thing. Those beautiful sea-green eyes...

Temari!

Once at the main gates, it was all he could do to keep from hyperventalating. He kept glancing at his watch.

"C'mon, Temari! Hurry up!" He thought to himself.

He knew that she'd never feel the same way about him, but he just couldn't keep himself from smiling at the thought of them being together. Even though Shikamaru was her escort, and nothing more, he got to follow her around ALL day. What more could he ask for.

A small figure appeared in the distance, along the path leadin from the gates of Konoha. Shikamaru forced himself to put his handsin his pockets. "Act normal! She's coming!"

Temari kept her hand down. "Act tough. Everything will be fine. It's just a meeting, and I'm just going to represent Garaa. That's it." She grasped the giant fan that was on a strap around her back. "Just a visit."

Shikamaru looked her up and down. Just her regular clothes: a black dress, red sash, and her fan (which had become a part of her everyday attire.

"Good, nothing seems to have happened to her," he thought to himself. "But what did I expect? What could possibly be different about her than normal?" He tried to stop himself, but the thought still seeped through his mind. "Was she always that beautiful?"

She looked up at the clouds, pretending to be thinking about something other than Shikamaru. "Act tough. You don't care about anything but yourself, remember? You're strong."

She looked back to Shikamaru's awed face, though he had tried to hide it. "C'mon, crybaby. Let's get going."

Crybaby.

It stung a little bit, but Shikamaru's expression stayed nonchalant. "Okay," was his only reply.

Although Shikamaru was supposed to be Temari's escort, she had been to Konoha so many times before, that she knew the way around the village like it was her own. Shikamaru was merely required to accompany her everywhere.

He wasn't complaining, though he tried to make it seem like it.

"Troublesome." He thought to himself. She was zig-zagging through the crowds as if they were non-existent. However, he'd given up on trying to deny how beautiful she still was, despite her bashful attitude.

"Stupid! Come on, Temari! Stop saying stupid things!" One side of Temari's brain was fighting a battle against her beter judgment.

"No. Covering up my feelings with insults is perfectly fine with me," her other side persisted.

"...Do you have any idea how cold-hearted that sounds?"

"I've survived this long doing it."

"Ugh! Survived?! You never before cried before you met him, and you know it! Now you wake up every morning sobbing just because you love him!"

"No. I don't love him."

There was a mental sigh. "Deny it all you want; whatever you do, it's the truth."

Temari's whole self let out a sigh without realizing it.

Shikamaru, as he had been watching her flurry of emotions rush by on her face, wondered what the problem was. "What?"

"Nothing," she waved a hand across her face to dismiss the idea that anything was wrong.

He didn't beleive her, but didn't want to act like he cared that much. So, they continued on.

Shikamaru sat on the roof outside the Hokage's Mansion window. Inside Tsunade and Temari were argueing about something with other representatives of the great ninja villages. he watched the white, puffy clouds roll by, but now that he was alone, he was once again envelopedin darkness. Only the occasional sound of Temari's voice made him pay attention, but when he realized it was only a slight objection, he was lulled back into emptiness.

Why?

Why do I feel this way about her?

"She's grumpy all the time, stronger than me, and no matter what I do, she'll always hate me. What do I see in her, anyways?" There was a long blank in his mind. "Her beautiful eyes... she's not starving herself to get someone to be skinny... she's strong enough to take care of herself, so I don't have to do it..." he cut himself off right there. "Where did that one come from? What do I expect to walk into that she would need taking care of? A relationship?"

The screeching of a wooden chair across the floor made him jump and let him escape from the daydream. "Let's go, crybaby!" and extremely angered voice called him to Temari like a puppy.

Angry thoughts rampaged through Temari's mind. "Those stupid pigs! Arguing about things that could be solved in an instant! I'd rather spend time wandering around with Shika--" she cut herself off, but decided not to deny it.

The next day started off as any other: both were crying silently, but would brutally deny it later if anyone asked.

"Okay, Shikamaru," he said to himself in the privacy of his morning shower. "Today, you tell her. Don't be a coward. Prove her wrong."

Temari was waiting for him, this time, outside of his house. Tsunade had given them a mission together (that troublesome woman), and Shikamaru was taking too long. She waited outside his house, trying to stay undetected by his mother.

She listened to the shower shaking the whole house in desperation to find hot water. "Lazy boy. He's only getting up now?"

The whole night before, she was arguing with herself how she really felt about him. She had concluded that he was attractive, but nothing to get worked up over.

She as tempted to peek into the bathroom window, but restrained herself. However, she DID knock on the door.

Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, opened the door and immediatly smiled.

"Does he know me from somehwere?" She wondered.

He called up the stairs to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru! Someone's here to see you!" He cupped his hand around his mouth to make himself louder.

The hot water was immediatly cut off by the screech of a turning handle. He may be lazy, but he's not one to keep you waiting.

Shikamaru pulled on a pair of pants, but didn't bother putting on his shirt, as he assumed it was probably Chouji.

He came down the stairs, dripping wet, with his eyess half closed.

Temari looked back to the open doorway from the tree she was earlier examining, and she couldn't extinguish a blush. There he stood, ust as embarrassed as she was, at standing in front of her in no shirt, hair down, and in a pair of old jeans that weren't even buttoned.

He fumbled with his hands, trying to zip up his pants.

Both faces were red, and Shikaku left, chuckling.

Temari gazed at his features... his hair tumblind down to his shoulders in wonderful shades of brown; his muscular chest; his embarrassed blush... all of it seemed too perfect.

She cleared her throat and said, not without wavering, "Go get some clothes on." She pretended to look angry with him at being under-dressed. She tried to soften her face, having resolved to be nicer to him, ending up only in a distorted expression.

Shikamaru thought, while stumbling in mortification up the staircase to his room. He fumbled for a shirt and his hair-tie.

"Was that blush on Temari's face? Why would she blush at seeing me? Maybe... she has feelings for me? No. Impossible." But he couldn't find any other explaination.

There was a crack of thunder and instantaneous pouring rain along the road leading from Konoha.

Temari and Shikamaru had been traveling on their mission for three hours, both trying to find a way to tell the other something important that was consuming their mind. There wasn't much to talk about, so there was no conversation until the storm hit.

Temari fanned out her only weapon and held it about both of their heads as an umbrella.

"It's getting late. We should set up camp," Shikamaru said, with all the courage he could muster.

Temari nodded in agreement, wondering what would happen, as Tsunade had them only pack one tent for safety reasons. Supposedly.

"We should find a tree to sleep in. It'll be flooding pretty soon with this horrible rain," Shikamaru continued.

She nodded again, but had a hint of disagreement. "Sure, the tree will protect us from the floods and the rain, but it might be hit by lightning."

"We can find one low enough to the ground but high enough to keep us from the floods. There's a patch of tall trees over there, "he pointed to a patch of forest on the side of the road. "If we can find one of the smaller trees, the lightning will hit the taller ones around it."

She rolled her eyes but didn't argue. Konoha's genious seemed to be trying taking control of Temari's mission. Not very smart. But somehow, Temari didn't mind.

There they were, crammed together at the hip in a one-fork tree.

"Couldn't we have found somewhere else?" Temari sighed, trying to hide her celebration at being together.

"This was the only tree short enough," he blushed, but tried to hide it with his hair. He sprawled himself out on the tree branch lazily, preparing to sleep.

Temari, on the other hand, had something else planned. She stretched out her arms above her, and faked a yawn. With her hands in the air, she pretended to lose her balance and fall out of the tree, into the raging flood below.

She knew very well that she oculd make it out herself, but she tried to make it look like she was drowning.

Shikamaru let out a horrified shreik and dove into the water after the girl he loved.

She tried not to show it, but Temari was feeling wonderful. He cared enough to jump in after her!

He swam and wrapped his hand around her waist to keep a grip on her as he forced his way to another tree. Consequently, it was also one-forked.

He barely noticed that his shirt had fallen off in the strong current of the flood as he dragged himself onto the branch of the tree.

Once on top of it, he picked Temari up with both hands and carried her to the fork in the tree. He gently let her down.

She looked up at him, pretending to be faint. "Thank..." she coughed, "Thank you..."

His eyes looked her over. Her wet dress stuck to her body and her sash was coming undone. He reached and untied her Suna headband, laying on the bark next to her. Akwardly, he reached behind her back and took the fan out of the red sash, which made it come slightly more undone.

He gazed upon her beautiful figure. She was a goddess!

He leaned down before he could think and touched his lips to hers.

Temari was slightly shocked, and she found herself kissing back. Then she pulled away. "I'm from Suna," she thought to herself, "and he's from Konoha. This isn't supposed to happen! What about Kankuro and Gaara?"

He could see the hesitation on her face as she pulled away from his face.

"Coward..." he whispered into her neck and kissed her again.

There was no denying now, both of them were wildly in love with the other, though it would take them a while to admit it.


End file.
